On the other end of the line was a recording saying: We are sorry are circuits are busy, please try your call later.

The University set up free accounts with credit monitoring firm Experian so that students and staff could find out if they were among the 300,000 with stolen data. Instead, the tied-up lines just added to the frustration.

“They're doing this for us to check and that doesn't even work," said Nancy.

The massive security breach has not only rattled the Maryland campus, but sent shock waves throughout other local academic institutions. Georgetown University has now implemented a mandatory bi-annual password change policy.

"I have a hard time remembering my passwords to begin with, so I think it's sort of a hassle," said sophomore Lindsay Agresti.

The school says it gets nearly 2.5 million attempted intrusions daily into its network.